Canadian Council of Music Industry Associations Joins “Focus On Creators” Coalition

(December 6, 2016, Halifax, NS) The Canadian Council of Music Industry Associations (CCMIA) has formally joined the Focus On Creators coalition to support Canadian musicians, authors, songwriters, poets, music producers, visual artists and other members of the creative industries in urging the Canadian Government to put creators at the centre of our cultural policy surrounding Canadian content in the digital realm.

Focus On Creators is a call to action by Canadian creators. Canadians are consuming more digital content than ever before, and creators have led the shift – they have digitized their work, mastered the Internet, and become their own social media directors. Yet the laws and regulations that allow creators to exploit their works to make a living are now out of date. Without urgent attention from government, thousands of Canadian creators will not be able to tell their uniquely Canadian stories.

The work of Canadian creators is increasingly used to monetize technology without adequately remunerating its creators. Income and profit from digital use of our work flow away from the creative class to a concentrated technology industry. Allowing this trend to continue will result in dramatically fewer Canadians being able to afford to “tell Canadian stories,” much less earn a reasonable living from doing so.

The Focus On Creators coalition was formed to bring focus to the artists’ perspective in light of some major federal cultural policy activities, including the Canadian Heritage Canadian Content in the Digital World review, and the upcoming Copyright Act review in 2017. These activities present a timely opportunity to re-establish a fair working environment for creators.

Focus On Creators has widespread support from Canada’s creative industries. The initiative’s supporting partners are:

The Canadian Council of Music Industry Associations (CCMIA) is composed of 12 provincial and territorial music industry associations. The members of the CCMIA include Music Newfoundland and Labrador, Music Nova Scotia, Music Prince Edward Island, Music New Brunswick, Music and Film in Motion (Northern Ontario), Manitoba Music, SaskMusic, Alberta Music, Music BC, Music Yukon and Music NWT. The CCMIA represents nearly 8,000 music industry professionals across Canada. Our members include artists, managers, publicists, agents, educators, promoters and other music industry entrepreneurs.